Dear LPG,

I know that I am preaching to the converted when I talk to the readers of this website because it is dedicated to the relatively older reader.   

I think that most will agree that it is difficult to get very far past the age of 65 without noticing the things that you used to be able to do a lot faster, the bits of you that don’t work quite as well as they used to and those conversations with younger people which leave you not understanding some of the latest idioms they use.

Understanding sometimes is only half the problem while hearing them can be the other half.  Online statistics tell that 40% of people who are aged 50 and over have ears that don’t work at optimum strength.  

And then there are our eyes.  I have lived with glasses all my life and every couple of years when I visit the optician, my eye tests show that they have deteriorated a bit more but, I have an aunt that went totally blind within a matter of weeks. 

It has been a few years now and I have learned how best to help her but I remember how difficult it was just watching her adjust to a world that she could not see.  She is not a dog person and won’t entertain one.  The television seems to be where she most connects with the rest of the world although she used to attend a day centre but post pandemic, she never went back.  

It has been quite a few years now since she has got the courage up to negotiate the to the street let alone take a walk on them alone even though we have tried to encourage her.  I realise that even a walk around the back garden is a really big undertaking for someone who only ever takes a few steps from her front door to a car to get to the bank every couple of weeks, and it will be a long time before she is ready to get out alone, but I really wanted to get her out again and finally we and her white cane are making the occasional really short trip that ends a little beyond her front door. I am learning a bit more about how to help her navigate the world, and I think that my experience with taking her out has been a lesson for us both.     

Many people are much more confident but, anyone with a white cane can have a challenging moment from time to time.  

My aunt and I are learning how to best help each other when we are out and I have to say that I have learned a lot about describing the world around her so that she knows how to negotiate it safely, and also so that she has an idea of what is going on around her.  It is all a bit of a trial and error process that requires lots of patience on both sides. 

I found a few videos that might help the sighted friend of a blind person, or even a sighted stranger help with a bit of navigation if they encounter someone who could do with it, and I thought it might help to ask LPG to share them. 

You never know when such a skill might come in handy.  

YG, Bellingham.

YG, offers a few videos that might give a few hints about approaching a blind person with a view to offering a bit of help…

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